


Three Heads of the Dragon?

by BerryBagel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, F/M, I mean...technically this all works with canon, Light Angst, M/M, Reunions, background jon/daenerys, starts with jon/gendry but arya/gendry is endgame here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:45:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerryBagel/pseuds/BerryBagel
Summary: Takes place starting on The Boat™ after the end of season 7.  Jon likes Gendry a lot.  Gendry feels bad that he can't separate his feelings for Jon from his Arya-related angst.





	Three Heads of the Dragon?

Jon loves the Dragon Queen. They are ice and fire made flesh.  They share the kind of love that could build or destroy empires.  There’s a sort of unflinching passion in Jon’s eyes when he looks at Daenerys that makes him seem ever more the powerful King in the North.  Jon’s love for Daenerys is no doubt precious and unique.

 

Gendry understands that, really.  He's seen Daenerys. Gendry has, personally, sworn off women who light men on fire, but he can see the appeal.  She's beautiful. She's powerful. He's heard _wise_ tossed around, but he doesn't know her quite so well as to personally vouch for that.  The main thing is, Jon loves Daenerys, and Gendry can respect that.

 

That being said, Jon probably also loves Gendry.  Actually, Jon definitely loves Gendry. Jon has drunkenly declared as much to the whole boat.   _Our fathers loved each other as brothers_ , Jon had slurred, _and we share that same bond_.  It was an excellent sentiment.

 

Maybe Jon does love Gendry as a brother.  A Lannister brother, or a Targaryen brother, but the sentiment would still theoretically hold true.

 

Jon is lying naked next to Gendry, sated and sleeping.  Even relaxed, he’s all hard muscle and strength. Jon looks like a warrior, but he also looks like a painting.  Even the stab scars across his chest and stomach, frankly, look more like an artist’s flair for the dramatic than fatal wounds.

 

Gendry hasn't seen many paintings in his life.  He _has_ seen a lot of people, though, and Jon is certainly among his favorites.  Jon is brave, and fiercely loyal. Jon is another bastard, the bastard of a high lord, but a bastard nonetheless.  Jon has overcome the circumstances of his birth to achieve greatness, but has kept his humanity and his compassion.  If Gendry has to share Jon with the Dragon Queen, so be it.

 

Gendry would follow Jon anywhere.  He would die for Jon, if Jon asked it of him.  He tells himself it's because Jon loves him, and he loves Jon.  He tells himself it's because Jon is also a bastard, a bastard who has risen to greatness.  He tells himself it's because Jon is brave and loyal and kind. He recollects plenty of perfectly good reasons for unflinching loyalty.

 

A small voice in the back of Gendry’s head won't let him forget the real reason.

 

Jon reminds Gendry of Arya.  When Gendry first met Jon, he had thought the resemblance was nice.  Arya might have died at the Red Wedding, but her fire and spirit lived on through her brother.

 

Now, the resemblance has become something twisted that Gendry tries to push out of his mind and forget entirely.  It's all well and good for Jon to have the same spirit and intensity as Arya, but there's a time and a place for noticing it.  When Jon is arguing with Tyrion at dinner, that's a fine time to think _Arya would have reacted in the exact same way_ .  When Jon pushes Gendry down on his bed and kisses him, that's arguably the wrong time to wonder if since _Arya was always so aggressive, would she have grown up to be like Jon in this way, too_?

 

Actually, there's really never a good time for thoughts like that.  It's not fair to Jon, and it's not fair to the good, pure memory of Arya that he tries to maintain.

 

Jon is sleeping now, so Gendry doesn't have to see his eyes.  He knows they’re exactly the same dark brown as Arya’s were. Jon's hair curls over his forehead, and that same hidden part of Gendry can't help but wonder if Arya’s hair would have begun to curl or wave if she grew it out.

 

Jon doesn't deserve to only be a reminder of Arya.  He deserves to be loved in his own right, wholly and completely.  It's one thing for Jon to love both Daenerys and Gendry. Jon actually has enough love to share between several people fairly.  It's another thing, a much worse thing, for Gendry to split his already limited affections between the very real man sleeping next to him, and the memory of a girl he used to know years ago.

 

Gendry wraps an arm around Jon’s waist, shifting slightly to lie nearer to him on the bed.  Jon mumbles something and nestles against Gendry’s chest. The moment is warm, something calm before the storm that is no doubt approaching.  Gendry does his very best to avoid wondering if Arya were still alive, if he would have ended up lying here, just like this, but with her.

 

***

 

It's been a few days since Gendry has last seen Jon.  Fair enough, everyone has been busy since they arrived at Winterfell.  A war is coming, and there's plenty to do to prepare. When Jon visits him at the forge late in the afternoon, Gendry isn’t expecting a long visit.  Gendry figures he can provide some friendly encouragement, maybe they'll both grope at each other for a bit, then they can carry on with their work. Not a bad arrangement.

 

“Gendry!  I'd like to introduce you to my sister.” Jon tells him.  Jon, yes, has a lot on his plate, but he must remember that Gendry has already met Sansa.  Several times, in fact. Sansa has taken it upon herself to personally inspect Winterfell’s working conditions on a regular basis.  This past week, Sansa has probably dropped by the forge at least twice to assess progress. He's had to start smithing with his shirt on, just in case the Lady of Winterfell decides to drop in.

 

Gendry isn't prepared for Arya to stroll into the forge after Jon.  He briefly wonders if she could be some other girl, maybe Jon has another sister, but no.  She's clearly Arya. She's taller, but not a lot taller. Her hair is longer, but not so much longer than he remembers- she must be keeping it short.  Most of all, she looks _older_.  She's a grown woman now.

 

Frankly, she's beautiful.  She's smirking as she follows Jon into the forge, but as soon as she sees Gendry, the smile slides off her face.  Gendry is sure his expression of surprise is a near perfect reflection of hers.

 

“This is Arya.  When I left for the Night’s Watch, I gave her a sword.  I imagine she's well outgrown Needle by now.” Jon says, gesturing over his shoulder at Arya, who is blatantly ignoring every word he says.

 

Gendry says something about being happy to help.  Jon doesn't notice how catatonic he is, or maybe just considers this kind of weird staring a normal side effect of interacting with Gendry.  He claps Gendry on the shoulder and says he'll _leave them to it, then_.  Then Jon is gone and Gendry is left facing Arya, alone in the forge.

 

“How did you end up _here_?” She asks.

 

“I came on the boat...with Jon.” Gendry says.  A true statement in multiple ways.

 

“I thought you were dead.” She says.

 

“I thought _you_ were dead.”

 

There's silence between them for a second.  This is, without question, the most uncomfortable conversation Gendry has ever had.  Neither of them seem to have any more words planned. There's really no telling if the primary emotion Arya is showing right now is anger or happiness.  But this is also the best conversation Gendry has ever had, because Arya is really alive, and really right here in front of him.

 

Then Arya takes a running leap at him.  He staggers backwards a bit, but he catches her.  He holds her in his arms and she buries her face in his chest and everything seems a bit better in the world.  Arya didn't die, she did get to grow up and now she's here and beautiful and with him. She says something, but the sound is muffled against his shirt.  She wiggles backwards just far enough to look up at him. She's smiling and maybe laughing a little bit.

 

“Gendry,” she repeats, “did you fuck my brother?”

 

***

 

There's something about impending doom that really makes everyone let loose at a wedding.  The dead are marching closer every day, and the Lannisters are doing gods only know what, but certainly nothing good.  This is the only happy occasion Winterfell has had the fortune to host in years, and it shows.

 

It wouldn't be prudent to use too many of the food reserves for a feast, so they've been enjoying a limited selection of meats and breads.  Likewise, there's plenty of wine and ale to go around, so everyone's stomachs are half-filled with drink.

 

Jon is among the only wedding guests not smiling.  He, of course, has the weight of the war on his shoulders.  Also, a vaguely more melodramatic concern, he isn’t particularly excited to see Gendry get married.

 

Gendry had told him that there was someone else.  He had told Jon there was a friend from years ago who had been presumed dead.  Well, she wasn’t dead, she was somehow in Winterfell, and apparently had been missing Gendry as much as Gendry had been missing her.  To hear Gendry speak of this mysterious woman, she was the greatest person in Westeros. She was clever and intense and brave and fair, which, not to be bitter, but Jon had thought were all traits Gendry had liked about him.

 

Jon had been well on his way to never thinking about the whole situation ever again.  Then Sansa had started talking about how she never thought Arya would ever _agree_ to marry, let alone _suggest_ the idea, and now there was a wedding to plan and she had _always wanted_ to plan a wedding, and Jon realized Gendry was marrying Arya.

 

Honestly, what was the point of finding out you were secretly a Targaryen, and big sweeping adages about how _The Dragon Has Three Heads_ , if just when you think you've found the third head to _your_ dragon, he goes and marries your sister?

 

In the end, though, this isn't so bad.  Arya _is_ clever and intense and brave and fair and the greatest person in Westeros, so he can't really fault Gendry for loving her.  Jon isn't left alone, either. Daenerys, is, after all, the most beautiful woman in the seven kingdoms, and she's still here next to him.

 

“I suppose that in this case, the dragon only has two heads.” Jon says to Daenerys.  Daenerys gives him a sympathetic look.

 

“Maybe so.” She says.  “Alternatively, we’ve received word by raven today that the rescue of Yara Greyjoy was successful…”


End file.
